Review of the performances “Masquerade” and “Boris Godunov” in the director’s versions by Pyotr Shereshevsky

Pyotr Shereshevsky premiered in two central Moscow theaters at once: first at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater – “Masquerade with Eyes Closed”, and then at the Theater of Nations – “Boris Godunov. Dreams.” In both cases, the director reinterprets classic texts that were not approved by censors at one time, trying to see in their mirror the reflection of us today. The picture comes out so-so, as I was convinced Marina Shimadina.

In recent years, Pyotr Shereshevsky has become one of the main theatrical newsmakers. Previously, he worked a lot in the provinces and in St. Petersburg, his performances regularly appeared in the Golden Mask competition. But last season they started talking about him in Moscow, when he released two successful premieres at MTYUZ, also rethinking the classics: “Mary Stuart” and “Romeo and Juliet” with an unexpected happy ending. And recently Shereshevsky was appointed chief director of this theater and released productions one after another in two federal heavyweight theaters. So the director could well repeat after Boris Godunov: “I have reached the highest power.”

However, for his hero in the play at the Theater of Nations, Monomakh’s hat turned out to be not only heavy, but also not very attractive. The director moved the action of Pushkin’s drama into an ordinary school gym with bars, mats and a locker room behind the stage. Shereshevsky explains that this solution to space, embodied by the artist Anvar Gumarov, came to him in a dream as an image of “a place of humiliation and individual hell.” The play is called “Boris Godunov. Dreams.” But these are the dreams of death that Hamlet feared in his famous soliloquy. In the first scene, Godunov wakes up lying on a table in the gym and is clearly dead – judging by the jacket cut at the back and somehow sewn up: this is how they dress the dead in morgues. And in this personal hell, he is forced to again review and relive the history of his illegal accession to the throne and inglorious fall. Igor Gordin, who plays the title role, is present on stage almost the entire time, silently observing what is happening – both the conspiracies of enemies and the betrayal of loved ones, and his face in close-ups (as usual with Shereshevsky, the camera films what is happening) is more expressive than long monologues.

The text of the play has been shortened and slightly altered; the average viewer will not notice the inserts from the first edition, entitled “The Comedy about Tsar Boris and Grishka Otrepiev.” But if Pushkin called one of the darkest pages of Russian history a comedy, then in Shereshevsky it turns into a farce, as happens with any cyclical plot. Almost 200 years after the play was written and more than 400 years after the events took place, this story of a bloody struggle for power remains just as relevant, and no matter when exactly it takes place. Pyotr Shereshevsky recalls the time of his youth, the dashing 90s, when the Soviet party bosses were replaced by semi-criminal “brothers”. Godunov and his entourage wear boring bureaucratic suits here, and Grishka Otrepiev and his gang wear Adidas sweatpants (costume designer – Maria Lukka). The scene where the tsar’s entourage (excellent roles by Sergei Belyaev, Vitaly Kovalenko and Alexander Kudrenko) changed their shoes in the literal sense of the word – they were seduced by brand new imported sneakers was very funny and accurate. The atmosphere of those troubled times is also created by the soundtrack, from Soviet nostalgic songs (“When we leave the schoolyard”) to the group “Combination” (“Two Pieces of Sausage”).

The teams of Godunov and Otrepyev are, as they say, “both worse.” But if Boris is still tormented by a bad conscience, then False Dmitry is not at all capable of reflection and shame: he puts a fur coat on his naked body and takes power unceremoniously, like Marina Mnishek (played in turn by Yulia Khlynina and Ekaterina Voronina) – here is not a proud Pole, and the broken physical education teacher who, without further ado, drags the “prince” into the shower. So much for the romantic scene at the fountain.

It must be said that in the scenes with False Dmitry, the space of the gym – a place of vital, sweaty bodies – works better than in the episodes with Godunov, clearly a stranger at this testosterone festival. Here they jump over a horse, pump up their abs, preparing for a march on Moscow, and, to the roar of compositions by the group Rammstein, they throw balls, meaning flying heads in Shereshevsky’s system of symbols. At the beginning of the performance, Godunov slowly, on camera, crushes a white tennis ball with his shoe, clearly showing what he will do to the traitors. But in the finale a wave of such balls falls from above – the flywheel of violence is unstoppable.

In the production of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, the space is conditional, not taking away unnecessary attention – the bridges and embankments of the Northern capital, but the work with the text is more sophisticated. The director here composed his own play, combining Lermontov’s “Masquerade” with Schnitzler’s novella, known to us from the film “Eyes Wide Shut”: Shereshevsky’s masquerade turned into a themed party based on Kubrick’s film.

But it all starts with a soiree with the university patron, Zvezdich Sr. (Evgeniy Perevalov) and his young wife (Yulia Vitruk), who is clearly not indifferent to her stepson, Zvezdich Jr. (Ilya Kozyrev). Everyone flirts a little with each other, and upon returning home, the spouses – Nina and Arbenin – begin to be frank. Nina’s story about her sexual dreams adds a little spice to Lermontov’s angelic and caramel image, which goes back to Shakespeare’s Desdemona. But still, in this male world, she remains a “vague object of desire” – her true feelings are of no interest to anyone. Actress Maria Fomina, with a slender figure and incredibly long legs, plays here a cold and bored social diva, carefully hiding her inner world from strangers, including the audience.

But Arbenin, performed by Igor Vernik, will have to reveal himself more than he would like. An ironic, cynical, slightly tired of life Lermontov expert, a university teacher, at 60 years old (the production was being prepared for the actor’s anniversary), it would seem that he is no longer capable of strong emotions. But no, Nina’s confession becomes a trigger, pushing him into the abyss of literally primitive feelings – resentment, jealousy, offended pride. Considering himself a reasonable person, he is helpless among the “fatal passions” that are so easy to study in theory.

One of the most interesting scenes in the play is the seminar scene, where Arbenin discusses Lermontov’s drama with students, among whom is his wife’s alleged lover. Arbenin is trying to find in the modern world, devoid of concepts of honor, the equivalent of revenge on the offender – well, don’t throw cards in the face. But in the end, “cancel culture” will most likely affect him himself: a slap in the face of a student, immediately filmed on his phone, will result in a quick dismissal. But Nina will remain alive. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t poison you. We are civilized people,” he says, handing his wife an ice cream. But this layer of civilization, under which the archaic beast is hiding, seems too thin. Shereshevsky reminds us of the completely unliterary crimes of recent times, when cultured people killed and dismembered the bodies of their wives, hid evidence, and told the investigation that they were in a state of passion.

With long scenes of card games, drinking and parties, the play seems drawn out. But at least the performance of Igor Vernik, who completely unexpectedly revealed himself in this role, is definitely worth the candle.